Celebration. Commemoration. Demonstration
'The Triumph of Art' by artist Jeremy Deller is a nationwide performance that takes us towards and finally rounds off our Bicentenary celebrations. It marks how festivals are part and parcel of art, culture and civic life, and that art and artists can be catalysts of collaboration and joy.
The role art plays in our public collections, cultural spaces and museums is the new work’s main theme. Deller has drawn inspiration from the Renaissance painter Titian’s wild processions of the Roman gods, as in his famous Bacchus and Ariadne (1520‒23), as well as folklore, dances, plays, rave culture and popular arts.
UK-wide partners
Four partners are taking part: The Box in Plymouth, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, Mostyn in Llandudno and The Playhouse in Derry/Londonderry. They’re each working with us to research, develop and stage a near year-long public programme of collective and interactive activities and local performance events beginning in May 2024. These collaborative projects will culminate in a major performance outside the Gallery on Trafalgar Square in the summer of 2025.
Jeremy Deller (b. 1966, London) studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute and at Sussex University. He began making artworks in the early 1990s, often showing them outside conventional galleries. With projects including 'The Battle of Orgreave' (2001) and 'We’re here because we’re here' (2016), Deller is known for works that involve people and that explore the themes of performance art and popular culture.